Macao's merchandise trade continues to rise in September

MACAO -- Macao's total merchandise import went up by 13.3 percent year on year to 12 billion patacas (about $1.5 billion) in September 2021, while total merchandise export amounted to 981 million patacas, up by 5.8 percent year on year, the special administrative region's (SAR) statistical service said on Thursday.

The latest report from Macao's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) showed that the import of articles for casino, gold jewelry, watches and handbags and wallets swelled by 404.3 percent, 213.0 percent, 89.0 percent and 78.9 percent respectively, whereas that of beauty, cosmetic and skincare products and perfumes declined by 39.8 percent and 11.8 percent respectively.

The value of re-exports grew 3.7 percent to 783 million patacas in September, with that of perfumes and diamond and diamond jewelry surging by 247.8 percent and 125.5 percent respectively. Meanwhile, the value of domestic exports increased by 14.9 percent to 198 million patacas, the DSEC report added.

The merchandise trade deficit in September totaled 11.02 billion patacas.

In the third quarter of 2021, the total value of merchandise export and merchandise import grew by 10.0 percent and 49.5 percent year on year to 3.17 billion patacas and 39.53 billion patacas respectively, resulting in a trade deficit of 36.36 billion patacas.

From January to September this year, the total value of merchandise import expanded by 103.0 percent year on year to 113.26 billion patacas, whereas the total value of merchandise export increased by 25.6 percent year on year to 9.87 billion patacas.

The merchandise trade deficit totaled 103.39 billion patacas for the first nine months of 2021, up by 55.45 billion patacas from a year earlier.

Analyzed by place of origin, merchandise import from the mainland and the European Union (EU) in the first nine months surged by 102.7 percent and 132.7 percent year on year to 36.52 billion patacas and 35.79 billion patacas respectively.

Analyzed by destination, merchandise export to the mainland rose by 25.1 percent year on year to 1.52 billion patacas during the period from January to September 2021. Exports to the Hong Kong SAR, the United States and the EU grew by 27.2 percent, 22.1 percent and 4.2 percent year on year respectively.

External merchandise trade totaled 123.13 billion patacas during the period from January to September 2021, up by 93.4 percent from a year earlier.